david in sweden

..even as an ardent 50 year fan, I'd agree entirely. Good loyal, club man YES. Nice Guy YES but England keeper .????? He seemed the most nervous yesterday, but the penalty save (even if it was a bit soft) would have helped his confidence, and he may be "back to normal "soon , but we need another class keeper as cover / back-up / challenger (call it what you will). Gazza...is a good prospect, but I dread to think what might have happened if KD had been unavailable.

I think we will see Rickie starting in HOME games, but with games like this... especially away he could be a real surprise packet coming on as sub. but Jay Rod must start regularly if he going to DAJFU. Everyone knows RL is 30 ...by no means on the way down. Last season, NA got the best he could out of another 30 y.o. Guly... and subbed him well almost every game, which helped his staying power, Yesterday Guly worked very hard for little praise but he was still on the pitch after 90 mins. Pushing Rickie to play 90 mins. of this standard of football every game will only shorten his career even faster... Had he been on the field from the start on Sunday it wouldn't have changed the scoreline, but he showed his quality when he got his one chance, and joy from beating the England keeper, too. I think NA uses subs. very creatively. Last season we had 12 goals scored by oncoming subs.....yesterday it was two more. The real question is can we get a settled line-up to start... .and eventually win games. Time will tell.

Lallana is undoubtedly best on the left, but like a few others on the day, he was asked to do a job and he tried valiantly. I can see quite another formation in future games, especially at home ...and another sort of result.

the overall responsive was a real feeling of pride. Of course according to the form book and every forecaster we had no chance, but we took the two genuine chances we had and gave City a run for their money, all £400 million of it. To see the amount of domination and possession that MC had was a shock but no surprise but having watched Chelsea win the CL Final in May, against superior opposition it was one day when I wouldn't have minded a penalty shoot-out to settle the game. We might have had a penalty ourselves, but Jos' clumsy tackle looked worse with Tevez's spectacular fall. Kelvin has faced harder shots from the Academy lads in training.. so justice was done in the end. Another linesman might have given Tevez offside, but once again Fonte was very slow to react and CT had loads of time to score. Their 3rd /4th goals were both preventable..not clearing from a set piece is a crime and Fox headed straight back into Samri's path. Overall, I was very pleased to see a good performance -even if it was backs to the wall for much of the time. However, It did highlight the weakness in our defence. We may be creative and even score some goals this season, but we can't afford to leak in goals like that every week. Two new CB's....for safety sake Nigel. please.

I think we may see more of that type of substitution this season. New signings like Lee and Jay Rod need to get in the action ASAP. I very much hope we can see Rickie in form for another season or two but now the side has lots of young legs and RL won't be up to charging around for 90 minutes every game. It was a good decision NOT to play him from the start, and an even better one to bring him on when he (NA) did. He may well end up amongst out top scorers - even playing only 45 mins. a game.

Rickie Lambert has gone from L2 to Prem.... in 5 seasons - and has scored in every division. It may not be the first time, but few player can claim that on their CV. Well done RL...nice goal, too! (Think Brett Ormerod did more recently)

I have noted - over a long period of time..that some fans find it easy to criticise players who don't score goals, don't have a shot on target, don't complete every pass and don't win every tackle, However, it doesn't mean they haven't made a valuable contribution to the tactics of the game. If you watched the game again, you'd see Guly was very much involved, but get his name mentioned every other minute.

JayRod played a wide one man up (against their defence and an England CH). and Guly had a specific job to do. I wouldn't like to (mis)judge them on this performance against this opposition. Rickie must be well-pleased....scoring against Hart ! ........and Steve Davis scoerd even quicker when coming on. However, it did highlight our ongoing problems at the back. We MUST have a regular no.2 goalie to challenge / stand-in for KD, and don't say Gazza everyone. The CB problem was painfully obvious today. Jos' tackle for the penalty was clumsy but Tevez made the most of it, and the guy was marginally offside when he raced past Fonte and scored.

....if Ramirez comes ..will we sign Phillips, too?. or, is this just a two fingered response to Holloway? i.e. if you don't want our money, we'll spend it on the other guy.

We all know the story, (and he was outside the shop on the following Monday morning with his chit to get his boots... but in checking I noted that In that Number states he was born in CROYDON . Is that still London? He surely moved south at some early stage, so I was a bit unsure myself.

" .....it's a classic offer I could not refuse " QUOTE Gaston Ramirez on his potential move to Saints . (now where have I heard that phrase before ?)

OK .I'll come back on Monday then.....

I don't think the work permit is any problem as he's been playing in Italy ..(and is a current international) but international clearances seem to take time. How many Spanish speakers do we have in the club?......Gazza is Argentinian, so there's one. Did Adam L. ever learn any Spanish at home or...? of course Fonte and Guly are Brazilians and speak Portuguese..which is a bIt different to Spanish .I know ..but WTH .......football has an international language - right?

so........we're not up to it - right ? all you moaners! ....can't attract really quality platers, eh ? still, he's only a " cheapie" for a mere £11.8 mill. ...right ? never again underestimate the pulling power of Don Cortese !

or alternatively ....... " where there is no vision... the people perish ..." BIBLE Proverbs 29 v.18

WELL ....as you asked Minty... ....we were actually promoted in season 1977-78. There was no such thing as a transfer window and a club could sign.. whoever... whenever. But during that season.. we said goodbye to Peter Osgood who tried pastures new in the USA, as well as former youth players Tony Sealy and Steve Neville but both went on to successful careers in lower leagues. We had already bought in CBs Chris Nicholl and Mike Pickering, as well as Phil Boyer who partnered up with prev. seasons signing Ted MacDougall (for the third time) and also introduced Graham Baker who scored a goal in 42 seconds... on his MOTD televised debut game. This was the basis of the promotion side in that season.. By the start of season (78-79) we bought in 4 players; only 3 of who, stayed any length of time. Winger Terry Curran (whose only claim to fame was to score the only goal in the 2nd leg SFvLeeds at the Dell - and take us to the League Cup Final. Goalie Terry Gennoe was better than rated by many, but suffered a crisis of confidence when dropped by Lawrie Mac and left for Blackburn where he kept goal for a club record 289 games. Finally... we saw ex-Arsenal legend Charlie George play ....4 months after signing for an enormous £400K fee from Derby. (goodness knows what that would be today?) but he never recovered properly from his knee injury and left after only 52 games. lastly... the one genuine signing that was top class was IVAN GOLAC. Talk to anyone of that generation and you'll hear only superlatives about the Yuglslav who was one of the first foreign signings in the UK. A superb full back who could score goals too. The following Div 1 season 1979-80 saw the departure of LB David Peach after 278 games... and his still unbroken FL record of 35 successful penalties, and former youth defender Manny Andruszewski who had made an impressive 98 apps. that seasons new arrivals; were Yugoslav goalie Ivan Katalinic, and (the second of McMeneny's FIVE England captains).CB Dave Watson)..and a cheeky young London lad who went on to score 99 goals in over 200 starts ...Steve Moran.

I'm not criticising you on that point, but for comparisons sake... Do you know the background of players in last years' promoted clubs; QPR, Norwich and Swansea. ..and who may have played Prem. before ..etc ?

I have to agree that the CB issue (as you call it) isn't closer to being resolved, but I do think that a number of other "issues" were looked at. Firstly, all players don't necessarily have to have first team / Prem. type experience to be considered... otherwise why was Jack Butland selected to play for England with his lack of experience (even if it was a friendly). However, We knew Jaidi was going to retire, and it must have taken a bit of thought ..before deciding that best solution for Aaron Martin was a loan-out (even though I felt he performed very well when called upon). The loan should make him a better player, but I really feel that NA wanted to give Dan Seaborne a chance to show his paces before deciding, but it was more hope than anything. so... Loan out for Dan - also a good idea. He (NA) may have changed his mind about those at the top of the list, or their clubs won't sell, or are asking for exaggerated fees (and we haven't heard the rumour)......or simply they don't want to come .. However, I am sure that after Sunday's game we will have signed at least one CB ...and for a number of reasons. It would be a negative thing for existing players (especially defenders) to see someone else come in on the eve of such a huge match, and not the confidence boost they need. A good result on Sunday (a draw of better) would bring the chance to" bolster the defence in the case of injury or suspension."..whereas a catastrophic result says... " clearly we need more options when we consider there are 37 League games left ". There you are... I've written Nigel Adkins' after-match press quotes for him already. I'm sure that NA has had a target list for several positions, but players who played well six-nine months ago aren't necessarily better now. He quoted in a live interview I viewed that " the majority of signings aren't made until after the end of july " (if I recall exactly). Our problem is that every season we have a huge load of fans who expect us to resolve every transfer deals before 1st June!. As we have seen with deals like; Tadanari Lee, Jay Rod and Steven Davis the time taken is more often measured not on a watch.... but on a calendar.

Remembering that his thread is supposed to be about Matt Phillips ..I think a few people have drifted off the subject BUT if you are alluding to the lack of Prem. experience in quoting the above ....you might also consider that with a couple of exceptions..nearly all those listed were considerably younger (and less experienced)....and for the most part have matured into the players we see today. Their lack of experience at the time of those (various) relegations you listed... is down to the fact that they were all considerably younger at the time, and one or two probably still in their teens.? .or thereabouts (certainly U21) Whether they have matured enough to hold down a place in our first team will be apparent by Christmas - if not sooner.

still can't say I was over-impressed when watching Butland's England debut. I thought £6 mill. sounded a lot...Brum's claim that he's worth £18 mill. is pure fantasy. It can be argued that he (Butland) didn't have much chance with the Italian goal, though he was several yards off his line, but I was much more impressed by Ruddy's two great saves after the break.

WOW ..what a well-reasoned arguement Genk. It almost makes sense, but be careful ...coming on here with positive comments like that only ignites the pessimistic posters.........now you'll be in for tirade of criticism because of your lack of negativity.

if you're one to believe in conspiracy theories..could it be that the " Saints tapping-up" story was meant to put us on the defensive and back off, allowing Everton come in with their "proper " bid ..? (that's assuming they didn't tap up the player as well).

well that's 8 of you who don't think it will happen ........such confidence!. What would NA say .....?

After being a fan for many years, one has to admit that Saints has been successfully dubbed " an unattractive club " by successive generations of media experts. Not since Lawrie McMenemy's glory days have we been able to attract top class players to the club and for the first 7 or 8 years of the Prem. we hung on by our fingernails even to the last day.so my definition of " likely signings " can be placed into several categories. a) Few clubs with successful players are likely to sell them - even for silly money. .and even if they wanted a move. b) Those on the market are either; "misfits " , injury-prone or not upto the general standard of the teams they are already with. c) almost none of the " London-based " players we've had (over several decades) has successfully adjusted to the " country life on the South Coast " which lacks the " glamour" of the London scene. d) the best alternative is to get someone who is on the up, but not regular at his own club...(as was James Beattie example) ..someone about to be passed over for a newer player, or e) buy foreign ..with all the cultura , language socail problels attached ..(although admittedly sometimes it does works ) f) ...." grow your own " ...ala.. Academy. There is no way ..IMHO a player like Bent would even consider moving here . and I hope we wouldn't spend the sort of money he'd cost to buy and maintian.. .even considering his past record.

this is rumour number 60 (according to the Echo list anyway) and one wonders how many of these are really a genuine interest. Yes we have signed 4 of them .......and we understand that probably another 3 or 4 (e.g. Butland ) didn't happen... and some others have gone to new clubs. I can't believe that we even considered a half of these, and it may well be that those we eventually do sign... may not even be on the list. Really makes you wonder what passes for the truth these days. Perhaps these sad journo's should quit the media and go and write a mystery novel instead.